Chamber News  July 2012
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The Mission of the Kent County Chamber of Commerce is to serve, represent and be the leading advocate for the business interests of its membership in ways that enhance the environment of the business community and quality of life and well being of residents and visitors.
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LEADERSHIP
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EXECUTIVE BOARD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
LORETTA LODGE
PRESIDENT
DOUG CAMP
The Investor's Friend
VICE PRESIDENT
DAVID BOWMAN
PNC Bank
TREASURER
DIANE BRANDT
CNB Bank
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DAVID BOWMAN
PNC Bank
BOB GREENWALD
East Coast Storage
JON HANLEY
Hanleyman Services, LLC
JIM RICH
Inn at Huntingfield Creek
JIM ROSS
Chester River Health System
BILL RUCKELSHAUS
Champion Realty, Inc.
KATIE WARRINGTON
Horizon Organic Dairy
LANSING WILLIAMS
Washington College
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Chamber Board Meeting Thursday, Julu12, 2012
12:00 P.M.
Chamber Office
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From the Executive Director
Greetings!
Well the dog days of summer have arrived with a vengeance. I hope everyone is managing to stay cool and that you weathered the recent storms safely.
Here at the Chamber we are putting the final touches on the 2012-2013 Kent County Chamber Business Directory. As soon as it arrives, a copy will be distributed to each of our members. Additional copies will be available at the Visitors Center in downtown Chestertown, the Department of Tourism & Economic Development at 400 High Street in Chestertown, and at the Chamber Booth at various events held throughout the year in the County. The Directory is the perfect way to get your name out there to local businesses, residents of Kent and surrounding counties, as well as those relocating to our area.
Behind the scenes at the Chamber, we will soon be converting to an all-in-one software package that will allow us to manage our events, membership, communications, news articles, website and much more, all within one application. Not only will this make the administration of the Chamber more efficient, but it will also provide new features and benefits for our members. Stay tuned.
Just a reminder that our Chamber committees are always looking for engaged members who can bring fresh ideas and alternative points of view. So if you have an interest in, or talents that could be beneficial to any of our Committees, Education, Legislative or Membership & Marketing, please contact me. We would welcome your participation.
As always, we appreciate your support of the Chamber
Wishing all of you and your families a safe and happy 4th of July!
Loretta
Loretta M. Lodge
Executive Director
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Welcome New Members The following businesses have recently made an important investment in their future and a significant commitment to the community by joining the Kent County Chamber of Commerce _________________________ CHESTERTOWN RIVERARTS JoLecia Crowe 315 High Street Suite 106 Chestertown, MD 21620 Tel 410.778.6300 | Fax 410.778.6300 riverarts@verizon.net www.chestertownriverarts.org Chestertown RiverArts is the merged organization of the previous Chester River Artworks and the Chestertown Arts League which has supported the arts and artists for over 60 years. A non-profit organization, Chestertown RiverArts actively engages the community in the creation, appreciation and support of art and artists through education, events and exhibitions. While we are in the process of merging and renovating a new, larger space at 315 High Street, Suite 106, Chestertown RiverArts will continue to operate out of our two former galleries: 312 Canon Street and 306 Park Row.
KENT COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Nancy Bennington
350 High Street Chestertown, MD 21620
The mission of the Kent County Department of Social Services is to promote personal responsibility, dignity and self-sufficiency, protect vulnerable children and adults, and preserve families
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Please join us in welcoming our newest Chamber members! |
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Chamber Office, 122 N. Cross Street, Chestertown
The meeting is open to all members. Please contact Loretta at 410/810-2968 or
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AMERICAN FLAG FACTS - A flag expert is called a "vexillologist."
- The blue field on the U.S. Flag is called the "union."
- On Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), to honor all who died in battle, the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff for the remainder of the day.
- Since 1834, the U.S. Flag has flown continuously next to the grave of the Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, near Paris, France.
- June 14 was proclaimed Flag Day by president Woodrow Wilson in 1916. While Flag Day was a popular celebration in scores of communities for many years after Wilson's proclamation, it didn't receive its official Congressional designation until 1949.
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NEWS FROM & FOR CHAMBER MEMBERS
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NON-PROFIT WORKSHOP
The IRS Exempt Organization Customer Education & Outreach office is having two day-long workshops that teaches small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations about their tax responsibilities. Please share the following information with clients/members who may be interested:
Arlington, VA - July 24, 2012
Fairfax, VA - July 25, 2012
Hosted by George Mason University's Centers on the Public Service
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SMALL BUSINESS RE-CERTIFICATION
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking comments on recently proposed regulations to determine if small businesses should be required to re-certify their status for long-term orders. This is an extremely important issue for small businesses that work or wish to work with the federal government, as it could finally prevent large companies from poaching federal small business contracts.
Since 2007, federal agencies have been allowed to count orders issued against long-term contracts as awards to a small business for up to five years or the life of the contract, even if the small business is acquired by a large business or grows to be other than small. This is a loophole that enables large businesses to enroll and/or maintain their subsidiaries in federal small business programs. Over several years, this loophole allows large businesses to siphon off billions of dollars in federal small business funds.
Moreover, this allows federal agencies to count contracts awarded to large companies as small business contracts. The SBA then includes those contracts to large companies in its annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard. This misleads the public, Congress and the President on the amount of federal contracts dollars actually awarded to legitimate small businesses.
For example, during FY 2011, 63 of the top 100 federal small business contractors were no longer small during 2011 but still won more than $14 billion in federal small business contracts.
http://asbl.com/documents/FY2011Top100FiveYearRule.pdf
We need to take this opportunity to tell the SBA that once a small business is no longer small, it must immediately re-certify as other than small, and any orders placed against the business' long-term contracts are not to be counted toward the agency's small business procurement goal.
Comment on this proposal at this link:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=SBA-2011-0011-0001 on or before July 16, 2012, or email at BrianReeder@asbl.com
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Summer is the perfect time of year to enjoy
the cool that comes after the sun goes down.
This summer KCPL encourages Teen and Adult readers to
OWN THE NIGHT and participate in summer reading
programs and activities designed to appeal to curious minds.
Teens can play the Summer Reading Game and both Teens and Adults are invited to attend special "after hours" OWN THE NIGHT programs.
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Character Counts! Kent County Fundraiser
55" LG Flat Panel LED HDTV
$5.00 for one ticket/$10.00 for three tickets.
Drawing date: September 15, 2012.
Tickets are also available through The Scotties Shoe Store in Chestertown, school offices, and kent.charactercounts@gmail.com
Good luck! and thank you for supporting our non-profit organization.
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Do you have news about your business that
you want to share with our readers?
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IN THE NEWS & AROUND THE STATE
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Chamber Information
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- E-Blasts - Broadcast E-Mail Service Now Available!
The Chamber now offers an E-Blast service to all of our members. In an effort to help you build your business and get your message out efficiently and cost effectively, the Chamber office will send an email specifically on your behalf to all Chamber members and non-members who have signed up for our mailing list. This is an excellent way to announce new products, services or events. As a Chamber member, you can take advantage of this service at a very reasonable cost of $25. Please contact the Chamber office for further details.
- SCORE (Senior Core of Retired Executives)
Invites retired executives to become counselors for new and existing local businesses. Contact Damon Bradley at SCORE to get more information: windtryst04@aol.com
- Help Us Help You. Keep Your Business Information Current!
Please remember to contact Loretta in the Chamber office if you have any changes or updates to your business contact information. We want to keep all of our members' information current.
- Member-To-Member Benefit Program
This program allows any Chamber member to offer discounts on their products and services to other Chamber members and their employees. Even if you do not offer a discount to fellow members, as a Chamber member, you may take advantage of the discounts offered by other members.
Don't miss out! Sign up for this program today.
Call Loretta at 410/810-2968 or email at kentchamber@verizon.net
The following businesses are participating members.
Please support these businesses!
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